Smithfield Crossing Law Blog

Almost everyone at some point in our lives would require the services of a lawyer. For some, the requirement might be as basic as having someone to give legal advice before transferring or buying a property, creating a will or getting a legal opinion before commencing with a business deal. For some unfortunate ones, the requirements are more complex like getting a divorce lawyer, a criminal lawyer or getting the best possible lawyer before proceeding to take legal action against a company or an individual.

Whatever may be the requirement, one thing that almost all of us would unanimously agree is that searching for the right lawyer can be a real pain. In fact for most people just the thought of soliciting the services of a lawyer is enough to give them sleepless nights and most just don’t know where to begin or how to go about contacting various lawyers and choosing the best one for their requirements or unique situation.

If you are one of those individuals as well who just don’t know what to do in order to search for the best lawyers, then welcome to the world of web 2.0. The internet has already changed a lot of things in our lives like the way we communicate, the way we shop, the way we research about a particular subject etc. But now the next wave of internet websites, popularly known as web 2.0, are changing things even further and one of those is how we look at law, understand legal situations and best of all, how we solicit the services of a lawyer.

Legal networking sites have made the general public much more comfortable with all aspect of the law and made them realize the law is there to help them and is nothing to be scared of. One of the great features of these sites is normal users can register for free and post their problems or grievances and not only can they get advice from fellow users, they can get accurate legal advice from real lawyers who are registered users of these websites. You can even have lawyers who specialize in the field in which you have a problem contacting you and offering their services.

You can find lawyers of absolutely any specialization in these sites from personal injury lawyers to divorce lawyers, criminal lawyers, business lawyers, lawyers specializing in real estate, insurance, immigration, employment etc. The list is absolutely endless and you can not only have lawyers contact you, but the websites actually list the lawyer’s entire details like their specialization, distance from your postal code to their office and their exact location. Apart from this, any user can access the lawyer’s entire profile which has detailed information on their practice, experience and traditional resume.

Never before has interacting with a lawyer of your choice been so easy. Even those who have never interacted with a lawyer before are finding it really simple to now get expert legal advice and judging by the growth of these legal networking sites, it can be clearly seen how comfortable everyone has become with legal issues using web 2.0.

Running a small business can be a legal mine field, and without appropriate knowledge and understanding of the relevant risks involved, you can quickly find yourself in some difficulties. Running a business without consideration for the law can be dangerous, particularly when considering the potential financial and even criminal risks you may be running. That’s why it’s a good idea to have an idea of the relevant legal provisions that may apply to particular circumstances in order to understand where you might be personally liable, and how you can avoid incurring such liability when managing a small business.

The first thing to bear in mind is that a business has its own legal formalities relating to the particular business form you choose. For example, running your business as a sole trader will require very little in the way of natural legal formalities, other than that you file appropriate tax returns annually and keep appropriate records of your financial transactions on a daily basis. This burden is far stricter if you choose to operate as a limited company. If you do decide to go down this route, it may be worth investing in a book on basic company law for reference. Don’t take the risk and try to muddle through; it’s better to know what is expected of you and what the penalties are by getting some form of expert opinion.

Secondly, you may face liability if you cause injury, either financially or physically to another party in the course of running your business. It is advisable therefore to opt for decent insurance coverage to protect against eventualities of this nature. Another good idea is to include an exemption clause or disclaimer whenever you can, although it’s important to understand these are not watertight. What they can do is limit your liability in damage to physical property where it is reasonable to do so, and in no way can they limit any liability you may have for anything deemed unreasonable or anything relating to a physical injury or death.

It’s a criminal offense as a business director to trade when you are aware that your business is insolvent. This is a general rule, and there are obviously intricacies involved, still this must be protected against. You could receive a criminal record if you breach these laws so take expert advice at an early stage if you face financial difficulties.

Similarly it is a criminal offense not to take records of your finances and to hold on to those records for three years. You are open to inspection of those records by the relevant authorities as and when they have a need to examine your business dealings. This is also compounded by legal requirements under the VAT regime, where you will be required to keep more rigorous accounts and are with almost certainty, likely to be subjected to periodical inspections.

There are a number of key legal provisions you should be aware of as a small business owner, and they are far too numerous to list here. Rather than spending fortunes on legal advice regarding simple matters, a better option is to purchase a beginners’ guide to company law. This will give you a quick insight into the practical requirements of running your business on a day to day basis and you can top up your knowledge bank with legal advice as and when required.

A home based online business has to legally comply with the same regulations as an offline business from any other location. Below are the basic legal issues with which a real home based Internet business owner must be familiar.

The first one, a real concern for any home Internet business is the age restriction. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) follows regulations spelled out in COPPA, the Children Online Privacy Protection Act.

The above act requires that children under the age of 13 cannot disclose their personal information unless a parent consents to it. Children under 18 years of age cannot, under any circumstances, be allowed to view pornographic content on the Internet, nor are they allowed to enter into any contract.

Real time occurrences on the Web, including chats and forums, must be carefully controlled by the home based Internet business owner. Bulletin boards will have the same control issues.

The rules of using each should very clearly solicit and retain the consent of each online user to refrain from posting pornography. Also, in this category are, defamatory or hate material or anything that infringes on the rights of others.

It is probably not a law and may never be so but respecting, truthfulness and fairness to other human beings should be a serious concern also.

Your company should also clearly state, on its site, that you are not liable for other users that commit to following your policies and guidelines but subsequently violate them. I always keep a sharp eye out on my web sites for this anyway and hope others will do the same.

We should all keep an eye out to preserve the integrity of the internet for all of us.

To make your ownership of all property real and keep content rights safe, on your home based business Internet site, you will need a copyright notice on the site footer, maybe on every page. The notice should clearly have the date, your name and the statement, All rights reserved.

A real copy of your business online site should be filed with the U.S. copyright office. This will effectively record ownership of the site contents, as well as its look and its feel. Incidentally, this will instill confidence in your site visitors that you are sincere about having a worthy web site.

Your site domain name is a dramatically important part of the branding and marketing for your Internet business. It is best to tie that domain name as closely as possible to your logo, your brand and your business name. This is so very important.

Carefully choose a domain name that clearly conveys the products or services of your real home based Internet business. It is the beginning of every sale or donation you ever get from your home business.

It is your very valuable headline. Register your domain name as a trademark and you can retain ownership should it be challenged by another business. Sometimes this will happen.

Your site is on the World Wide Web so you must comply with export regulations. If you sell goods over the Internet to these global consumers, which you should want to do, then you are exporting items for sale and entering into international countries and commerce. Your market increases by hundreds of millions of flesh and blood humans.

If your site is encrypted then you are exporting to other countries per U.S. Department of Commerce and Defense technology regulations. There are many U.S. federal agencies that have regulations in force.

Enforcement agencies are expected to enforce them with the intent of the law, for doing business with other countries. This is their job. Times and circumstances require a firm to get an export license to send information, technology or goods abroad.

Regarding other countries, there is now software on the internet that translates into many of the major world languages. If your web site can sell goods world wide you can use this software to major advantage to sell in many more places.

Your Google Ad Sense will be in other languages giving you more action also so many millions more prospects can read and buy from you. Your online pages will increase dramatically giving you far more links and exposure. Your Alexa rating will begin to rise. Understand the immense benefit from this.

There are countries with whom business transactions are limited severely for U.S. firms. These countries are Cuba, Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Syria and Yugoslavia.

Romania and Malaysia are rife with dishonesty on the internet. It is best to risk losing business with these two countries for now because your chances of being cheated are very high and not worth the risk with such poor odds that are not in your favor.
The best decision about the real problems you might encounter for your home based online business doing commerce with these countries and or the residents should be made with your attorney. Better yet, forget all of these until international relations with them get a lot better.

Despite the huge safety improvement in the automobile and its accessories, road condition and design, the car accidents are being remained inauspiciously common in US. As this is very common in US a quite large number of people die and get injuries thought out the certain period of time. In the year 2002 along nearly 43000 people have been killed in the car accidents the country.

As the other states of the country has their own rules and regulation to govern the state properly and protecting the rights of citizen, Florida has implemented those for its people. The Florida accident lawyers do take care of the simple and critical accident cases. They uphold their best ability to take care of the prosecution related to the accidents. The rules are there to ensure the justice for the people in Florida. They do take part in the legal affairs and secure the appropriate judgment towards the law.

Then there is the Florida Attorney general. The main duty of this designation is to take part in the legal affairs of the state. If there is any dispute on litigation or any legal amendment is required, this persons bears out the responsibility by digging into this and sets things right. The Attorney may advocate the public in some of the legal issues.

Personal injury law involves civil claims in which an individual is injured through the negligence, recklessness or intentional misconduct of another person, a company, or property owner. A personal injury lawsuit may arise from physical or emotional injuries. Personal injury law compensates individuals injured as a result of another’s negligence or intentional misconduct. Personal Injuries allegation and the litigation vary from on state to another. If an individual has been victimized with the personal injury by the other’s fault or not be at fault there should be the urgency to get in touch with Injury lawyers in Florida to achieve the right amount of compensation from the person who has committed the mistake. Accident that happens due to recklessness of others may be led to Personal Injury cases depending upon the circumstances.

Being victimized by the car accidents there are some certain things that the injured or the affected people should do as per the Florida Car Accident Attorney. First of all policemen are to be informed by making a call. If there is any possibility try to reach for the snapshot and take down the number of the vehicle that has committed the mistake and make sure there people have the eye-witness to squeeze the case and compensation for the accident. Insurance company will be pleased and the legal will be beneficial to file up the prefect legal representation for the maximum level of compensation with medical bill and the lost wages including the idle time sitting back in the home with the injuries.

If you are just starting a loan modification business, adding loan modification services to your existing business, or are about to do either, you will need to research and address several different legal issues before you begin. Every state has different rules and laws regarding modifications, so it’s best to find this stuff out beforehand, rather than after you’ve been fined or even arrested for breaking the law.

First off, you’ll want to find out who can do modifications in your state and who cannot. Are there any licensing or certification requirements? Are real estate brokers allowed to do modifications? Are mortgage brokers allowed to do modifications? Can you simply outsource an attorney to write the letters for you, while you just handle the sales and “processing” (i.e. you do everything but sign the pre-written letter that you send over to the attorney to print and sign)?

You’ll want to decide which states you want to do modifications in, and what the different licensing requirements are for each state. Furthermore, you may need to get special licensing or certification, and possibly submit to expensive audits, in order to do modifications on FHA and VA loans, so make sure you look into this before you agree to take on an FHA or VA loan modification.

Can you pay referral fees to just anyone in your state? How much are you allowed to pay? Can you pay referral fees to mortgage brokers and/or real estate brokers? Many state-level real estate and mortgage oversight boards and commissions can get really touchy about this issue, so make sure you don’t cross any lines you shouldn’t be crossing. What about referral fees to accountants, bankers, and financial planners? Many states have regulations about referral fees to these professionals too, so find out before you start throwing money around.

Be careful about who in your company has access to your clients’ personal files and information. For that matter, be careful about who even discusses these issues with your clients and their lenders, as your release forms will necessarily be pretty limited in their ability to protect you. Some states even require you to have locking filing cabinets and a certain level of firewall protection, password logins for you computers, and other internet safety before you can even begin your first modification.

Be aware that some states do not allow you to charge up-front fees for your services. Even if your state doesn’t care, you run the risk of a lawsuit by a frustrated client if the modification is unsuccessful, even if it’s not technically your fault.

Consider having an attorney draft some of your forms, including your Client Authorization, your Client Services Agreement, and any other disclaimer or important form. These are your only protection from lawsuits, so don’t let them be shoddy and loose. Spend the money to ensure that both you and your clients are fully protected. For that matter, you may even want to print this article up and take it to a local real estate attorney to help you answer these important questions. Your state real estate and/or mortgage commission may be able to help you as well.